What Is The Unit Price?
The unit price is the cost per quantity of an item you want to buy. Just divide the cost by the quantity to calculate it. Comparing unit prices for several items is an effective way to figure out which one is the “best buy”. If you use the same measurement of quantity for the items, the item with the lowest numerical unit price is the best bargain. Be sure you compare the same price per quantity. The quantity may be per item, per serving, or ounces, grams, liters, or gallons. The units must be the same to compare unit prices between items.
Calculating a Unit Price
Now you can use the calculator on your phone to calculate the unit price. But we like the convivence of the unit price calculator to quickly figure out which products are the best value when you shop
Done-For-You Unit Price Calculations
Stores often calculate the unit price for you and post it on the shelf label. You would think that this would make price comparison shopping easier. However, this is not always the case. First, the unit prices you see at the grocery stores are not reliable. In fact, Georgia is one of the states in the U.S. that does not regulate unit prices at all.
Georgia Stores Are Unregulated
Without set standards to adhere to, Georgia stores are free to calculate unit pricing to confuse and mislead customers deliberately. They may use different units for side by side items of the same type. This technique can persuade you to buy products that look like the best deal but are not. Sometimes the difference is pennies, but multiply 2 cents by several items every time you shop, for every customer – and it adds up quickly.
Selective Display Tactics
There are other ways the stores use unit pricing to their advantage. They can choose to display or not to display the unit price in our state. Look next time you are shopping for laundry detergent. You will not see and unit prices on the shelf labels. Why is that? As consumers, we expect to get more value when we buy in bulk. Of course, the mega-sized detergent costs more, but you get more for the money. Right?
Laundry Detergent Unit Price Comparison
Well, not always. Sometimes the bigger size is not the best value. Here is an example to illustrate this point. We found the following laundry detergent prices shopping online at a popular big box store. There are four sizes of laundry detergent to compare. All are the same brand.
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The largest of the four sizes. It is the self-proclaimed Mega Value-184.5 fluid ounce at $12.99 it covers 123 loads of laundry.
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Next, we consider the Large-141-fluid ounce container of detergent will do 94 loads of laundry for $9.69.
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And $6.99 will buy the Medium-88 fluid ounce that equates to 58 laundry loads.
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Finally, the last one is the smallest quantity and is Small-40 fluid ounce concentrated liquid laundry detergent, 53 loads, for $4.89.
The Per Fluid Ounce Unit Price
The best value per fluid ounce is the Large-141-fluid ounce container of detergent for $9.69. The unit price is just under 7 cents per fluid ounce. The worst deal per fluid ounce is the smallest size for $4.89 for just over 12 cents per fluid ounce. See all the results below.
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Large $0.069 Per Fluid Ounce (BEST VALUE)
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Mega Value $0.070 Per Fluid Ounce
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Medium $0.079 Per Fluid Ounce
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Small $0.122 Per Fluid Ounce
The Per Load Unit Price
The results are drastically different when we look at the cost per load for each size. Here the clear winner is the smallest size for $4.89 for just over 9 cents per load. What is important to note here is that the Mega Value size for $12.99 is not the best value by the fluid ounce or by the load.
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Small $0.092 Per Load (BEST VALUE)
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Large $0.103 Per Load
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Mega Value $0.106 Per Load
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Medium $0.121 Per Load
The Unit Price Takeaway
The takeaway here is that you need to do the math. Unfortunately, you cannot rely on the accuracy of unit pricing labels you see in stores. Please leave it to Title Tree to find the easiest ways to save money when you shop. Get a quick quote for a title pawn today.